Your Uterine/Penile Credit Rating

When the State controls your reproductive organs, even your credit rating isn't safe from bureaucratic intrusion.

In an effort to deter rich urban couples from having more than one child, the Chinese government has decided to add one more weapon to its coercion armamentarium:

"In the future, city residents' family planning violations will be entered in the credit system of the People's Bank of China," said a notice posted late Thursday on the Web site of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission.

It didn't give additional details about the scheme and it was not immediately clear whether the action might affect a person's ability to conduct financial transactions.

China's 28-year-old family planning policy limits most urban couples to just one child and allows some families in the countryside to have a second child if their first is a girl.

Rising incomes mean many people can afford to break the rules and pay resulting fines. The government has tried to crack down on the trend by raising fines and, in some cases, trying to embarrass violators.